Saintess? Not Anymore! I'd Rather be a Destroyer-Chapter 354 - 291: Saintess of light Vanuer

April 5th

Sorry for the late updates, school has been really busy and I struggle academically so I have to learn harder to keep up with school work.

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After a while of waiting and the hall was full, a group of ten students entered the room. The lights were dim, casting long shadows across the wide hall. No one spoke. The silence settled over them. Then, suddenly, the stadium lights shone at the stage center.

There stood a young man whose face made Aurianna’s pupils shrink in an instant. And he wore the uniform of the Academy but it was much different from the first years.

"Congratulations to you all for becoming students of our prestigious academy!" he announced, his voice echoing with enthusiasm. "You’ll be given your ID cards in a few days. And I, Ralph Vanluad, Student Body Vice President, would like to personally welcome each and every one of you to the Mystical Academy!"

He smiled, all warmth and charm, his perfectly sculpted features earning starry-eyed sighs from some of the girls in the crowd of new students b

But not Aurianna.

’Ralph... So this is where that bastard was hiding. I couldn’t track him. The audacity,’ Her eyes flared bloodshot as she stared, seething.

Ralph continued his speech, oblivious. "Also, I would like to announce the student who ranked highest in all the entrance tests." He paused, glanced at the paper in his hand—then froze. His confident expression faltered. His hands trembled. "That student is... Aurianna... Vanluad."

"Ralph, what’s wrong?" asked a concerned female student beside him. Her brows furrowed as she noticed his hands shaking violently.

But Ralph didn’t respond. His eyes were locked on Aurianna’s name, and his face had gone pale.

"Shit!" he cursed under his breath. He leapt off the stage like a madman, trying to flee. But he hadn’t even reached the stairs before a leg crashed into his back.

The floor cracked under the force of the impact. Ralph’s body even made a crater into the ground. A suffocating pressure suddenly filled the room, a killing intent so thick it felt like drowning in poison.

No one could move.

Even the instructors on the upper decks hesitated, frozen in place.

"Who was the fool that thought saving trash like you was worth it?" Aurianna’s voice echoed through the stunned silence. She stood on top of Ralph’s broken body. Her eyes were like pits of an empty blue sea. "You run like a coward and hide in this place, thinking I wouldn’t find you?"

Ralph coughed up blood, trying to push himself up. "How... how the hell are you alive?"

Aurianna tilted her head and let out a cold laugh. "Did you expect me to die? How cruel of you, brother." She pressed her foot harder against his back, making him groan. "It’s been three years since I saw your rotten face. Or was it longer? Well, it doesn’t matter anymore."

A flicker of holy light sparked in the corner of her vision.

Aurianna turned her gaze sharply. A glowing scythe of light however before her neck.

"Oh, Saintess of light," Aurianna said mockingly, "are you going to protect this trash? And are you willing to make an enemy of me just to save him?"

Vanuer’s smile was calm, "He’s my student now. And remember the academy’s rule: kill, and you shall be killed." But inwardly, her thoughts raced.

’This aura... it’s vile. No wonder none of the students can move. Her bloodlust alone is enough to paralyze anyone. And yet... she’s blessed with holy powers? This can’t be right.’

"Do you not fear me killing you right here and now?" Vanuer asked coldly, her grip tightening on the handle of her scythe.

Aurianna didn’t flinch. Her glowing rainbow eyes locked onto the Vanuer’s. "I don’t fear death," she replied evenly. "But killing him is non-negotiable. So I’ll ask again, do you truly intend to stand between us? Will you protect this filth?"

Vanuer’s expression remained neutral, but her thoughts churned with unease.

’Those eyes... they’re just like the High God’s. That radiance, that pressure. But why does she hate Ralph so much? From the last World Summit... weren’t there rumors about her seeing the future? If they’re true, then... does she know something I don’t? Maybe that’s why she’s so hostile towards him. But how would he be able to harm her? She’s stronger than him.’

Ralph grunted beneath Aurianna’s heel, coughing. His face was twisted with pain and confusion. "Little sister... isn’t it better to let go of old grudges? I don’t recall doing anything that would earn this kind of hatred."

Aurianna’s gaze turned icy. "My hatred, huh..." she echoed with a hollow chuckle. "Of course you wouldn’t remember. But it doesn’t matter. You still deserve to die."

Vanuer said her voice was still calm, but filled with a warning tone. "Come now... I personally came to welcome you, Saintess of Beauty. There’s no need to cause such a ruckus. Look around you." She gestured toward the silent crowd. "So many eyes on us. Don’t you feel anything? Even a shred of restraint?"

But Aurianna didn’t spare the onlookers a glance.

Vanuer’s inner thoughts darkened. ’She’s the one who poisoned him. Even for a saintess like me, it was nearly impossible to purify that kind of strange skill. Her control over magic at her age is terrifying. Thirteen years old and already a Grand Human. Such an abnormality.’

Her thoughts cut off. A sudden pressure filled the air. Aurianna was no longer in place.

’She’s fast.....’ Vanuer’s eyes tracked her in slow motion.

In a blink, a shimmering saber had formed in Aurianna’s hand, swinging down at Vanuer with precision and deadly intent. But the Saintess reacted instantly, her scythe appearing to intercept the blow with a brilliant flash.

*Clang!*

Aurianna twisted, launching a flurry of fierce kicks, each one blocked cleanly by Vanuer, who responded with slashes. Aurianna barely avoided them, flipping back, her heels skidding across the marble floor.

The spectators hadn’t even processed what had happened. It all unfolded in the span of a few heartbeats.

Aurianna stared down at her trembling hands, her saber and feet trembling from the force of Vanuer’s blocks. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Vanuer narrowed her eyes, watching the girl’s reaction.

’I see. She’s definitely an Arcane human with this type of strength,’ Aurianna thought.

’ She’s smiling?’ Vanuer blinked. ’That’s... not normal.’

Indeed, Aurianna hadn’t noticed it herself, but a slight, almost unhinged grin had formed on her face, born from thrill, not madness.

Vanuer’s mind suddenly raced. ’Why isn’t she backing down? Even with this difference in strength, she still wants to fight me. Does she have a trump card? Well she’s the one who cleared the Bahamut Ruin. She’s not reckless, from the information I know of her so far. She’s more calculated. So it means she definitely has a trump card to be so arrogant. I can’t put these children in harm’s way as well.

Her gaze shifted briefly to the students, terrified, some near tears, none able to move under the oppressive aura hanging in the room.

Vanuer’s mind raced before she came up with a solution